I’m Tracey! I am a Slimming World Consultant in Tallaght but most importantly I am a Slimming World member. I have lost five stone following the plan and words cannot convey just how much it has changed my life in every single way.

I was a comfort eater, a secret eater and miserably unhappy for all of my teenage life. Since becoming a parent something clicked for me. I want to be around for my son for as long as I can be. I don’t want him to grow up seeing food as the enemy and as a reason to hide his emotions. Slimming World has changed everything for me and I want to help others do the same.

When you attend your weekly Slimming World weigh-in you might notice other group members asking you “are you staying for group?”. If the answer is typically “no” then perhaps the question should be posed a little bit differently. Why is it that you are not staying for group? You might not be aware of all that it has to offer, the importance of group therapy and the massive difference it can (and does) have for weight loss results.

Your Slimming World group has so much more to offer you than the news of what number you are on the scales. Image therapy is so very important and could be the missing piece of the puzzle for you. First of all weight loss is so concerned with what is going on in your head. It is completely dictated and fuelled by the way you think and how you feel. If the ways that you feel and think are not regularly addressed then all you have to go by is the fluctuation of a number every single week and for a lot of people that simply is not enough.

The part of the Slimming World group where weigh-in stops and people take a seat in the room is called Image Therapy. Oh and therapy it is. There are laughs, tears, massive revelations and so much fun to be had. It is the part of group where you get to experience the benefit of one-to-one help from the Slimming World consultant but in the comfort and safety of your warm and friendly group.

The question or concern you have will help ten other people when the consultant answers that question. The new product which really helped you this week will be written down and added to the shopping list for the people sitting beside you. It is an amazing opportunity to share struggles and triumphs with a group of people that will never judge or humiliate you.

The worst thing I did was only go to group when I had lost weight. I was completely missing a trick. I loved the praise and feel good factor so if I gained weight I simply walked out the door. As it turns out those were the weeks I really, really needed to sit my bum down on one of those seats. When you have had a great week, your group really needs you and when your week has gone a bit pear shaped you really need your group.

Group will always have a mixture of people who have had different results. Some will have lost weight, others gained and there will always be a couple of maintains in there too. There will also be varying feelings towards those results. Someone might be thrilled with a small gain after a holiday while another person might be disappointed with a loss because they expected a bigger one.

Image therapy is a chance to address those feelings and make sure that there is a plan in place to ensure that next week brings a result that will make you jump for joy. There is nothing quite like seeing someone skip off the scale having heard a result that they are really delighted with, especially when the week before they needed some extra help, encouragement or ideas. It’s so worth it in the end.

If things are not going the way you want them to for your weight loss journey it might be worth considering the small things you might be missing. I personally couldn’t succeed on the plan without that bit of me-time every week. I’d pop along ten minutes before weigh in finished, grab a cup of tea, take a seat and then came MY time to focus on myself in the middle of the week. I had every excuse ready under the sun not to go. Anything from a bad week to a cough, my child not sleeping, the weather or money but deep down I knew that when I stopped looking for reasons not to go the magic would really happen. And it did.

Five stone later I can honestly say that staying for group is my number one tip. As a Slimming World consultant I can see it so clearly but as a slimming world member, I can feel it on a much deeper level. I need to sit in that room of friendly faces for forty minutes once a week. I need that cup of tea and bit of a laugh. I need a weekly reminder that I am not alone, that everyone struggles and that I too can and will get to target if I continue to invest in this journey.

Make yourself a priority and stay to group this week. That is where the real magic happens.